LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Chap. Copyright No. 

ShelfJRUL 3 S 

.-3*4 £ <o- 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



INDIGESTION : 

ITS CAUSES AND CURE. 



/ BY 

JOHN H. CLARKE, M. D., 

FELLOW OF THE BRITISH HOMCEOPATHIC SOCIETY ; EXTRA- 
ORDINARY MEMBER OF THE ROYAL MEDICAL SOCIETY 
OF EDINBURGH ; CONSULTING PHYSICIAN TO 
THE LONDON HOMCEOPATHIC HOSPITAL ; 
AUTHOR OF "THE PRESCRIBER," 
ETC. 



AMERICAN EDITION. 



Revised and Enlarged by the Author, 



From the Fifth English Edition. 



PHILADELPHIA : 
BOERICKE & TAFEL. 

1900. 



O COPIES BfcX^Ei 

-•2 71900 ttQp 



6140 







COPYRIGHTED 

BY 

BOERICKE & TAFEL,. 

1900. 



T. B. & H. B. COCHRAN, 

PRINTERS, 

LANCASTER, PA. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Preface to American Edition, ... 5 

Preface to the First Edition, ... 7 

Chapter I. — Digestion, Primary and 

J^ Secondary, 11 

Chapter II. — Causes of Indigestion, 21 
Chapter III. — Food and Drink, ... 29 

Chapter IV. — Indigestion after its 
Kinds: 
1. From indigestible food; 2. From ex- 
cessive indulgence in good food; 3. 
From alcohol; 4. From tobacco; 5. 
From tea; 6. From cold; 7. From 
bad air; 8. From vinegar; 9. From 
tight-lacing; 10. From nervous de- 
bility; 11. From bloodlessness; 12. 
Medicinal; 13. Constitutional; 14. 
Gouty. - 42 

Chapter V. — Treatment of Indiges- 
- tion with Illustrative Cases: 
I. Improper food: Case I., Convulsions 
from eating indigestible food, cured 
by Nux vomica. 2. Irregularities of 
diet: Case II., Extreme dyspepsia 
with mental symptoms, from irreg- 
ularities of diet, etc., Sulphur, 
Lycopodium, Nux vomica. 3. Al- 
cohol: Case III., Chronic alcohol- 
ism; cirrhosis of the liver; dropsy; 
indigestion ; great amelioration 
from China. 4. Tobacco: Case IV., 
Aggravated dyspepsia caused by 
tobacco poisoning, cured mainly 
by Nux vomica; Case V., Indiges- 
tion, with indurated liver; Case VI. , 



Contents. 



Tobacco and whisky dyspepsia, 
cured by Ly cop odium. 5. Tea: 
Case VII., Tea dyspepsia, cured by 
Merc, sol., Actcza rac, etc.; Case 
VIII., Tea dyspepsia. 6. Arsenic: 
Case IX., Arsenic dyspepsia, cured 
by Bryonia. 7. Cold: Case X,, 
Dyspepsia from cold, cured by 
Card, veg.; Case XI., Dyspepsia 
from cold, Plumbum. 8. Bad air: 
Case XII., Dyspepsia from bad air, 
Nux., Sulph. 9. Vinegar dys- 
pepsia. 10. Tight-lacing dyspepsia. 
11. Dyspepsia from nervous debil- 
ity: Case XIII., Dyspepsia from 
nervous shock, Iodine; Case XIV. , 
Dyspepsia resulting from nervous 
debility, Natrum mur , etc. 12. 
Indigestion and chlorosis: Case 
XV., Indigestion of chlorosis cured 
by Petroleum; Case XVI., Dys- 
pepsia of anaemia simulating ulcer- 
ation of the stomach, cured by 
Argent, nit. 13 Drug dyspepsia. 
•14. Miscellaneous : Case XVII., 
London dyspepsia, Abies nigra; 
Case XVIII., Dyspepsia of six 
years' standing, cured by Abies 
nigra. 15. Constitutional indiges- 
tion: Case XIX., A chronic con- 
stitutional case with dilated stom- 
ach; recurrent fistula; cure: Case 
XX., A chronic case arising from 
an improperly treated skin affec- 
tion, Sulphur, Nux moschata, . . 64 
Chapter VI. — Diet in Dyspepsia, . . 118 
Chapter VII. — Materia Medica, . . 129 
Index, 143 



PREFACE TO THE FIFTH ENG- 
LISH EDITION. 

Thk continued popularity of this treat- 
ise, as evidenced by the exhaustion of 
another edition, is a gratifying circum- 
stance in itself, and at the same time it 
enables me to keep it thoroughly up to 
date. In the present revised edition will 
be found much additional matter, includ- 
ing several new cases, which I hope will 
still further increase the usefulness of 
the work. 

JOHN H. CLARKE. 



PREFACE TO AMERICAN 
EDITION. 

In presenting this little work to Amer- 
ican Homoeopathic readers, I can only 
express a hope that it may find as gratify- 
ing a reception on the western side of 
the Atlantic as it has done on this. Five 
editions have already been called for, 
and as the last w T as issued little more 
than a year ago I have not found it 
necessary to make any extensive altera- 
tions. At the same time I have gone 
carefully over the work and have been 
able to incorporate a considerable amount 
of new matter. 

JOHN H. CLARKE. 



30 Charges Street, Piccadilly, 
London, W. 

June, 1899. 



FROM THE PREFACE TO THE 
FIRST EDITION. 

Considering the enormous influence 
the human stomach has exercised on the 
history of the world and of individuals, 
it is astonishing that people are so little 
careful how they treat it, and what they 
put into it. But for the stomach, as every 
one knows, there would be little of the 
world's work done. "If any man will 
not work, neither shall he eat," is the 
apostle's rendering of the primal curse, 
" In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat 
bread. ' ' And certain it is that but for the 
stomach and its demands there would be 
a very great scarcity of workers. Nor 
does the doing of the work alone depend 
on the stomach's wants;, the quality of it 
also depends very much on the stomach's 
condition. When a man cannot eat a 



8 Preface. 

mouthful of food without suffering acute 
misery, it is impossible for him to work 
with the pleasure that the best work de- 
mands, or to take a just and charitable 
view of his fellow-creatures; and when 
the man happens to be one of the rulers 
or leaders of men, the consequences may 
be far-reaching. 

It becomes, therefore, a matter of the 
first importance in life to give the stom- 
ach fair play. In the following pages, 
after describing the normal process of 
digestion, I go on to sketch the various 
deviations from the normal to which the 
process is liable, and to show how they 
may be avoided, and how cured. 

I have illustrated the treatment of the 
various kinds of indigestion by narrating 
the treatment of actual cases. It will be 
seen that the treatment is of several 
kinds. 

In some cases of acute indigestion, the 
best remedy is to abstain from food for 



Preface. 9 

twenty-four hours, and take no medicine 
at all. In most cases the regulation of 
the diet, and the time at which it should 
be taken, is a matter of the first import- 
ance. But there are many cases in which 
this is not enough; and in almost all cases 
it may be usefully supplemented. It 
often happens that the conditions of life 
are such that the active causes of indi- 
gestion are operating all the time, and 
no change in regimen is possible. What 
is to be done in these cases ? A melan- 
choly-wise shake of the head on the part 
of the physician does not provide much 
help, and though this is often all the 
sufferer receives, it is because the physi- 
cian does not know his business. 

There is much to be done; but he who 
knows not Hahnemann and Homoeop- 
athy will fail to do it. 

It is just here that Homoeopathy shines 
with such conspicuous lustre beside Old 
Physic. By means of its powerful and 
2 



io Preface. 

yet innocuous medicines it can work out 
cures when Allopathy must stand help- 
lessly by, or make matters worse by giv- 
ing drugs that are almost certain to do 
harm. 

After narrating my cases, I shall devote 
a chapter to the diet treatment of indiges- 
tion, and then, in a final chapter, I shall 
give a list of the medicines which are 
most useful in the disease, with the par- 
ticular indications for^their use. 



CHAPTER I. 



DIGESTION. 



'T^HE process of digestion com- 
mences immediately that food 
is taken into the mouth. Before 
food can be converted into blood, 
it is necessary that it be reduced to 
a liquid or semi-liquid state. All 
solid foods, therefore, must be 
broken down in the first instance to 
fine particles, and for this purpose 
the teeth are provided. Solids may 
be swallowed unmasticated, it is 
true, and the strong digestive juices 
are capable of digesting them, but 
this power is made much more 



12 Digestion. 

certain and easy if the food lias 
been first finely ground by the 
teeth. But the teeth have another 
function. In the cheeks and under 
the tongue are the salivary glands, 
the ducts of which convey the saliva 
into the mouth, and one function 
of the teeth is to mix the food 
thoroughly with saliva at the same 
time that they grind it small. 
The leading action of the saliva is 
on the starchy elements of the food, 
which are converted by it from 
insoluble starch into soluble grape- 
sugar. In this way solid food is 
prepared for its passage into the 
stomach, which is the organ of 
digestion par excellence. 

The stomach may be defined as 
an organ for the reception, at 



Digestion. 13 

proper intervals, of food and water. 
I say "water," rather than "drink," 
because whatever drink is taken, it 
is the water which is the essential 
thirst-quenching part of it. The 
stomach, when it has received the 
food, does not complete the 
digestion of it, as many people 
imagine, but it does by far the 
largest share of the work in 
liquefying the food and reducing it 
to a condition in which it can be 
absorbed. It is lined with a mucous 
membrane richly supplied with 
glands of a special kind, which 
secrete a very powerful acid fluid. 
This fluid acts chemically on the 
food taken, breaking it up and 
reducing it to a pulp. It also 
contains the substance u pepsin," 



14 Digestion. 

which acts in a peculiar way like 
a ferment, converting all the 
albuminous foods, such as meats of 
all kinds, into il peptones " which 
can be absorbed, in the same way 
that saliva converts starch into 
grape-sugar. Besides the mucous 
coat there is a muscular coat, with 
fibres running in two directions, — 
from end to end, lengthways of the 
organ, and circularly, all round it. 
By these two sets of fibres the food 
is moved about when the stomach 
is full, until it has all come in 
contact with the mucous membrane 
and been submitted to the action of 
the gastric juice. When thoroughly 
mixed with this, the whole being 
reduced to a grey, semi-fluid mass, 
it is ready to be passed on into the 



Digestion. 15 

bowels. There it meets with the 
bile, the pancreatic juice, and the 
secretions of the intestinal glands 
and mucous membrane; and as 
each different secretion acts on it, 
some portion of it is rendered ready 
to be taken up by the absorbent 
vessels called lacteals which abound 
in the intestines. In the lacteals it 
is a fluid and looks like milk. After 
passing through the abdominal 
glands, where it undergoes some 
further preparation, the fluid is at 
last collected from all the lacteals 
into one large duct (the thoracic 
duct) and poured into the current 
of the blood. 

This is the primary digestion, 
and that alone with which I con- 
cern myself in the present treatise ; 



1 6 Digestion. 

but there is also a secondary diges- 
tion, to which I will briefly refer. 
All the tissues of the body are in a 
state of ebb and flow. Where life is 
there is no standing still; every- 
thing is in a state of motion and 
change. The tissues once built up 
from the food no sooner reach their 
perfection and perform their func- 
tion than they begin to decay and 
make room for more. Some tissues 
change more rapidly than others — 
the soft tissues more rapidly than 
the hard, but all change and break 
down into their elements. The 
secondary digestion consists in the 
absorption of these decomposed ele- 
ments by the lymphatic vessels 
and glands, the elimination of those 
elements which are entirely waste, 



Digestion. 17 

and the recom position of those that 
are still utilizable into blood and 
new tissues. 

This process is one of vast im- 
portance, and one which, is easily 
deranged. Some people naturally 
have a more active secondary diges- 
tion than others, and these are 
generally thin. Tissue - change 
goes on rapidly, and it matters 
little how much they eat, they can 
never fatten. In spite of their 
spareness they have generally great 
vital heat, and are of an active, 
nervous, and restless temperament. 
Others, on the contrary, eat little, 
but grow constantly fat. With them 
the process is slow ; the tissues burn 
away (for it is essentially a burning 
process) less rapidly, and they are 



1 8 Digestion. 

of a quieter, more easy-going dis- 
position — lymphatic or phlegmatic. 
But when there is not merely slow 
tissue-change, but, in addition to 
this, a defect in the carrying off of 
the effete matters from the tissues, 
then we have various kinds of dis- 
eases arising as the effete matters 
accumulate in the system. If it is 
lactic acid, we have rheumatism ; 
if the predominating substance is 
uric acid, we have gout. These 
are, in general, diseases of the sec- 
ondary digestion. It is of course 
possible, and, indeed, most com- 
mon, to have defects of the two 
digestions combined, but they are 
distinct things nevertheless. 

I have said that the secondary 
digestion is easily interfered with. 



Digestion. 19 

All lowering influences put a check 
on it. Too great exposure to cold, 
for instance, will stop it, as in the 
chill which sets up rheumatic fever. 
Alcohol, tea, coffee, opium, tobacco, 
check it; hence some of the diseases 
that spring from over-indulgence in 
these as articles of ordinary con- 
sumption. Of course, it will be easily 
understood that the two digestions 
act and react on each other ; and it 
must not be forgotten that the 
above-mentioned substances power- 
fully affect the primary digestion, 
and may disorder that as well as 
the secondary. 

Having explained this much, I 
will return to a consideration of 
the stomach, for that is the organ 
which is chiefly concerned with 



20 Digestion. 

what is popularly understood by 
" indigestion," and is, in fact, the 
most important of the digestive 
organs. If the stomach is in good 
condition the chances are that the 
rest of the organs of digestion are 
in good condition also, and if these 
are not sound, the stomach is pretty 
sure to feel it, and let its owner 
know. 



^VW' 



CHAPTER II. 

CAUSES OF INDIGESTION. 

T3EF0RE proceeding further I 
wish to be clear about terms. 
Medical terms are often confusing 
to non-medical readers, who attach 
differences of meaning to different 
terms when they are simply two 
names for the same thing. A 
familiar instance of this is the case 
of the terms " scarlatina " and 
" scarlet fever. " The first is sup- 
posed to represent a mild form of 
the second. But they are used 
absolutely indifferently by medical 
men, the most malignant cases 



22 Causes of Indigestion, 

being called scarlatina, just as the 
mildest cases are called scarlet 
fever, and vice versa. There is the 
same distinction made by some 
people between " indigestion " and 
" dyspepsia." It is a distinction 
without a difference ; both are 
names (indigestion, Latin ; and 
dyspepsia, Greek) for identically 
the same condition, and I use them 
indifferently. I am sorry if I must 
rob some poor sufferer of the little 
consolation he has been able to 
obtain from the supposition that 
his complaint is not vulgar t4 indi- 
gestion," but a more refined some- 
thing named " dyspepsia," but it 
must be done, for they are merely 
different names for the same thing. 
A great deal might be profitably 



Causes of Indigestion. 23 

written on the art of eating. Hur- 
rying over meals, paradoxical as it 
may sound to say so, is tlie most 
extravagant waste of time. The 
teeth cannot do their proper share 
of mastication unless they have 
sufficient time to do it in ; the food 
is passed into the stomach in an 
unprepared state, and the lack of 
mental quiet prevents the stomach 
from expending a proper amount of 
energy on its duties. A meal-time 
should be a time of mental and 
bodily rest to all but the digestive 
faculties. Another point in the 
art of eating is the avoidance of 
drinking much during a meal. The 
practice of washing down every 
mouthful with a drink, whether of 
water, wine, lemonade, or what not, 



24 Causes of Indigestion. 

is exceedingly bad. It dilutes and 
weakens the action of the digestive 
juices, and almost certainly leads to 
dyspepsia. A good drink, if thirsty, 
shortly before a meal, or a little 
time after it, is the best arrange- 
ment; though a draught in the 
pauses between the courses need 
not be objected to. But food should 
never be " washed down." 

A healthy stomach is able to 
digest anything in an ordinary way 
that is called food. Its power is 
not strictly limited to the digesting 
of " wholesome " food, but it has a 
margin of over-power, which allows 
it to undertake luxuries like mince 
pies, roast pork, and confectionery. 
The happy possessor of such an 
organ should enjoy what he eats 



Causes of Indigestion. 25 

and be thankful, and think little or 
nothing about his stomach. Only 
he must not transgress his margin. 
For the strongest stomach may be 
ruined if it is tried beyond its 
powers, and if its possessor uses it 
as a receptacle for things that 
please his palate, rather than for 
those which sustain his body. But 
if he makes the latter his main 
object, and only indulges his palate 
now and then, his stomach will 
take it all very good-naturedly, and 
no harm will be done. 

The three grand requirements of 
every stomach are — proper food, 
proper quantity of food, and proper 
rest. 

It does not matter how whole- 
some the food may be if there is 
3 



26 Causes of Indigestion. 

not enough of it, or if there is too 
much, the stomach will resent it. 
Or, if the quantity as well as the 
quality be right, and if it be given 
irregularly, at improper intervals, 
allowing no time for the stomach to 
recover itself after its last digestive 
effort, indigestion will result. 

A large number of the cases of 
indigestion we meet with arise 
from violation of these three cardi- 
nal rules. But not all. The stomach 
may be disordered when there is no 
complaint to be made whatever as to 
the treatment of the stomach itself. 
For instance, in all fevers and 
acute inflammations the digestion 
is more or less interfered with, 
though the stomach may not be 
originally at fault. Whatever dam- 



Causes of Indigestion. 27 

ages the vitality of the blood, either 
in the way of blood-poisoning, or 
by its becoming watery and thin, 
impairs the power of digestion. 
Working in ill-ventilated offices 
with gas, or at poisonons trades, as 
in the case of cardboard boxmakers, 
paper-hangers and stainers, and 
artificial florists, who inhale ar- 
senic, and plumbers who work with 
lead, — any of these conditions may 
set up indigestion. Improper 
habits of body, as neglect of open- 
air exercise, and excesses of every 
kind, will bring on a very inveter- 
ate form of indigestion. Inherited 
delicacy of any kind, whether con- 
sumptive, rheumatic, or gouty, will 
sometimes manifest itself in indi- 
gestion apart from any want of 



28 Causes of Indigestion. 

care on the patient's part. Finally, 
mental canses must not be omitted 
from the list. " Laugh and grow 
fat " is a very old adage and a very 
true one. When the mind is ill at 
ease the stomach cannot work as it 
ought, and the face grows haggard 
and lean and the muscles lax. 
Worry is one great cause of indi- 
gestion. 



CHAPTER III. 



FOOD AND DRINK. 



W^H AT is a food ? This is not 
quite so easy a question to 
answer as some people might sup- 
pose. Any substance which is 
capable of being digested and con- 
verted into the tissues of the body 
is a food. This is the scientific 
definition ; but there are many sub- 
stances which have been eaten, and 
which have actually helped to sus- 
tain life under emergencies, which 
we are not in the habit of looking 
upon as food in an ordinary way. 
For instance, in times of siege, 



30 Food and Drink. 

9 

leather has been actually eaten by 
starving people, but we don't con- 
sider leather a food. Therefore in 
practical life it is only those sub- 
stances which contain a consider- 
able amount of digestible material 
that are to be regarded as foods. 

Moreover, the question, What is 
a food ? can only be answered by 
each individual for himself. What 
is a food to one man is not neces- 
sarily a food to another. Such an 
innocent thing as mutton, for in- 
stance, would be said by most 
people to be good food for every- 
body, and yet I know those to 
whom the least bit of mutton is 
dangerous poison. Many people 
can eat mackerel and enjoy it with- 
out feeling any after-effect; in 



Food and Drink. 31 

others the smallest portion of it 
will set up choleraic symptoms. 
Some people are so sensitive that 
fish of any kind will cause violent 
nettlerash. I have known others 
who are sure to have a severe fit 
of asthma if they even smell roast 
hare. Finally, some people are 
poisoned if they eat rice, and can 
detect its presence in beer by their 
symptoms when merely a few 
grains of it have been put into the 
beer at the time of bottling. 

In our definition of "food," there- 
fore, we must make room for excep- 
tions ; it is not all substances con- 
taining nutriment that are food for 
everybody. 

Foods are divided into two kinds, 
— those in which the nitrogenous or 



32 Food and Drink. 

albuminous elements predominate, 
and those which contain the carbon 
elements in the greater proportion. 
To the nitrogen class belong lean 
of meat, cheese, French beans, peas, 
lentils ; whereas the carbon class is 
represented by fat of meat, butter, 
farinaceous foods, sugar, potatoes, 
and bread. The only perfect food 
is milk, containing both elements 
in good proportions. Eggs also 
contain both elements, but they 
are not such a perfect food as milk, 
as they do not contain the neces- 
sary salts in solution as milk does. 
Of course there are other things in 
foods besides these two predomi- 
nating elements, though these 
serve to usefully classify them. 
And it must not be supposed that 



Food and Drink. 33 

the members of one class have 
none of the elements characteristic 
of the other. It is only the pro- 
portion which serves to distinguish 
them ; meat contains carbon as well 
as nitrogen, and bread contains 
nitrogen as well as carbon. Nor 
are the members of the same class 
alike, rice and bread are both in 
the carbon class, but rice contains 
less nitrogen than bread. 

There is another food element 
the importance of which has been 
rightly emphasized by Dr. Lah- 
mann, namely, food-salts. These 
are contained in milk in the right 
proportion as regards other food 
elements, and also in the right 
relative proportions among them- 
selves. Soda, potash, and lime 



34 



Food and Drink. 



salts are the principal. These are 
contained in the various fruits and 
vegetables in sufficient excess to 
make up for the deficiency of them 
in meats, and pulse foods, such as 
peas, beans, and lentils. It is im- 
portant that vegetables should be 
cooked by steaming, as the com- 
mon practice of boiling them boils 
most of their salts out of them 
and common table-salt does not 
make up for the deficiency. 

Cow's milk contains .7 per cent, 
of food-salts, which have the fol- 
lowing percentage composition : 









O 






-SO 


„o 


3~ 




CO 

O 


OS 




cd 
U 

B 


'go 


<u a~0 


OPw 
,a«1 


*Cco 


< 
SO. 


a 

"C o5 
. 


Pk 


03 


►4 





Pm 


0} 


03 


a 


24.67 


9.70 


22.05 


3-05 


•53 


28.45 


•30 


.04 


14.28 



Food and Drink. 35 

Meat, white flour, potato, and 
pea contain very much less than 
the proper proportion of soda, lime, 
ancj chlorine than the standard of 
milk. Spinach, cabbage-lettuce, 
and carrot contain more than the 
standard. Apple and strawberry 
contain more than the standard of 
soda but less of lime. This shows 
the necessity of plenty of fresh 
fruits and green vegetables in the 
dietary of a meat-eating people. 
The use of common table-salt is no 
substitute for the lack of the right 
food-salts. Chloride of sodium is 
more of a stimulant than a food. 
It renders too rapid the passage 
of fluid from the tissues and causes 
an abnormal thirst. Salted meats 
are not such valuable foods as 



36 Food and Drink. 

fresh meats ; and for this reason. 
Three-fourths of the weight of 
fresh meat consists of water ; but 
in contact with salt fresh meat 
loses some of its water, which 
passes into the urine and carries 
with it a considerable part of the 
effective organic and inorganic 
constituents of the meat (Gorup- 
Besanez). A similar process of 
u pickling " goes on in the bodies 
of those who eat excessively of 
salt. Another effect of over-in- 
dulgence in salt is the creation of 
acidity.* 

Food, then to be satisfactory, 
must contain all of these elements ; 
and the proportions should be about 

* €l Natural Hygiene," H. Lahmann, M. D., 
London: Swan Sonnenschein. 



Food and Drink. 37 

fifteen of the carbon (fat and 
sugar), and five of the nitrogen 
class (albumen), and one of salts. 
It is in order to keep the propor- 
tion between carbon and nitrogen 
that potatoes are taken with meat, 
and are better for that purpose than 
bread, which itself contains much of 
the nitrogenous elements. Cheese 
by itself is much too strong a food, 
and needs to be taken with bread, 
and perhaps butter as well. 

Proper food, then, which I have 
said is the first requisite for the 
healthy stomach, consists of food- 
substances combined in proper 
proportions according to their 
nature, and, of course, — if cooked 
at all — properly cooked. 

There is much dispute about 



38 Food and Drink. 

alcohol, as to whether it is a food 
or not in the proper sense of the 
word. If it be a food it is an 
uncommonly poor one. It is a 
carbohydrate, that is certain, and 
it is capable of being absorbed into 
the blood ; but it no sooner gets 
there than every organ does its 
best to get rid of it, and if any of it 
undergoes a change in the blood, it 
can only be a very small proportion. 
It is a safe rule to make, never to 
consider anything as a food when 
there is any doubt about whether it 
is a food or not. There are plenty 
of things about which there is no 
doubt. Let these be taken as food, 
and if the' doubtful articles are 
taken at all, let it be for some other 
reason, and not with the idea of 
nourishing the body. 



Food and Drink. 39 

Alcohol brings ine to the question 
of drinks. Actually there is only 
one drink — water. Beer, tea, coffee, 
and the rest, are drinks, it is true, 
but they owe their property of 
thirst-quenching to the water they 
contain, not to the substances which 
flavour them. Milk is a drink, but 
it contains so much food, which 
becomes solid as soon as it enters 
the stomach, that it should only be 
taken as a drink at meal-times by 
those who are not able to take much 
solid food. It is well, as mentioned 
in the previous chapter, not to drink 
much of any liquid during a meal, 
but to take a good draught before 
it, or after it is over. 

Some people have a great distaste 
for cold water, and some cannot 



4-0 Food and Drink. 

digest it. For them hot water or 
toast-water may be substituted, 
when other drinks are obj ectionable. 

The second great requisite for 
the stomach that I pointed out, is 
— Proper quantity of food. 

The stomach requires a certain 
mass of food for it to work on. 
A healthy stomach will have noth- 
ing to do with essences or condensed 
foods; it requires bulk in order that 
its muscular coat may have some- 
thing to grasp and contract on, and 
its secretion something to mix with. 
It is for this reason that the starchy 
foods, like potatoes, are the best to 
eat with meat, because the latter 
contains nutriment in so condensed 
a form that substances less rich 
must be added to make up suffi- 



Food and Drink. 41 

cient bulk. When foods are pre- 
scribed in small quantity, and in 
light form, it is because the stomach 
is in an abnormal condition. 

This leads me to speak of the 
third requisite — Proper rest. 

When the stomach has dealt with 
a meal, pouring out its secretion, 
and by means of its muscular action 
reducing it to a proper state for fur- 
ther digestion in the intestines, it 
passes it on. Then the stomach 
has rest, and the other organs take 
up the work. The effort it has 
gone through is no light one, and 
it needs time to recover itself. If 
this time of rest is broken by sub- 
sidiary meals, or indulgence in con- 
fectionery, the stomach resents it, 
and the result is indigestion. Unless 
4 



42 Food and Drink. 

under special circumstances, no food 
whatever should be taken between 
meals, and a good five hours should 
be allowed between one meal and 
another. Three meals a day — at 8, 
i , and 7 o'clock — is the best arrange- 
ment in an ordinary way. The 
middle meal should be very light 
if much active brain-work has to be 
done in the afternoon. In the morn- 
ing the stomach is most vigorous, 
and a substantial meal can be taken 
then, though active work must be 
begun soon after. In the evening 
the powers of the body are more 
exhausted by the day's exertions, 
and yet a substantial meal can be 
taken at that time, as it is followed 
by a period of rest and relaxation. 
To those in delicate health rest of 



Food and Drink. 43 

body,before and after food is almost 
as essential as rest of stomach. The 
robust may sit down to a hearty 
repast immediately after fatiguing 
employment. Not so the delicate : 
for them rest is necessary both 
before a meal and after. I have 
known invalids unable to take the 
lightest meal without suffering 
indigestion, if they took it immedi- 
ately after the seemingly slight 
fatigue of dressing ; whereas, if 
they rose a little earlier, so as to 
give themselves a quarter of an 
hour's rest before the meal-time, 
they ate with more appetite and 
digested their food without trouble. 



CHAPTER IV. 

INDIGESTION AFTER ITS KINDS. 

i. From Indigestible Food. 

T^7HEN a small boy strays into 
an orchard before the fruit 
is quite ripe, and indulges his 
appetite without staying to reflect, 
he is apt to experience an attack 
of indigestion of the simplest kind. 
The food he has eaten is not 
digested, but remains in his stom- 
ach like an irritating foreign body. 
If he is discovered in time, the 
simplest process is to give him an 
emetic of salt-and-water or mustard- 
and-water, and so get rid of it in 



4-6 Indigestion after its Kinds. 

this way. But if it lias already had 
time to pass into the bowels, other 
measures will be needed. The 
symptoms he experiences are sharp 
pains in the upper part of the body 
or about the navel, and even cramp 
and spasms which may go on to 
general convulsions. Stone fruit 
before it is ripe will cause the same 
symptoms. 

Those who have reached mature 
years are generally more discrimi- 
nating in their diet, but every little 
while they may forget themselves. 
Perhaps it is some favourite dish 
which they know does not agree 
with them, but which they cannot 
resist, and then they know what to 
expect. The symptoms vary accord- 
ing to the food that has caused the 



Indigestion after its Kinds. 47 

indigestion. Nuts cause pains in 
the stomach* and chest. Fat food, 
especially fat pork, causes nausea 
and vomiting, with moist white 
tongue. This is frequently accom- 
panied by pains in the body and 
diarrhoea. 

Food may be indigestible under 
some conditions, and digestible un- 
der others. If a person in a state of 

^Throughout this treatise I use the 
word "Stomach" in the anatomical sense, 
meaning the organ which receives the 
food as soon as it is swallowed. The 
stomach lies in the upper part of the ab- 
dominal cavity, more on the left side 
than on the right, which is occupied by 
the liver. The stomach is protected by 
the lowest ribs on the leftside, and many 
of the pains arising in the stomach are 
felt in the chest. In common speech the 
' ' Stomach ' ' means the whole of the ab- 
domen, but I do not use it in this sense. 



48 Indigestion after its Kinds. 

exhaustion sits down to a hearty 
meal, even though the food is no- 
thing but what he is used to, he will 
not be able to digest it. In all 
such states the very lightest food 
should be taken until the bodily 
powers are restored, which usually 
happens after a sleep. Some people 
can eat hot meat very well, but not 
cold meat, and to them cold meat is 
an indigestible food. The explana- 
tion of this is that in cold meat the 
albuminous and gelatinous parts 
are set, whereas in hot meat they 
are fluid, and these are more easily 
acted on by the digestive juices; 
moreover, cold meat must become 
warm in the stomach before it can 
be digested, and this absorbs a cer- 
tain amount of the stomach's vital 



Indigestion after its Kinds. 49 

energy. Pains in the chest and 
intestines, flatulence, and great 
distress, are the penalty of want 
of due care on these points. 

Under the same heading of indi- 
gestion from indigestible food must 
come those cases due to defective 
teeth. When the teeth are faulty 
and cannot masticate the food 
properly before it is swallowed, it 
reaches the stomach ill-prepared, 
and sets up indigestion which is 
apt to become chronic. The rem- 
edy in this case is to consult a 
dentist, and if he cannot put mat- 
ters right, the food — that is, the 
solid part of it — will have to be 
passed through a sausage machine 
and so chewed artificially. 



5o Indigestion after its Kinds. 

2. From excessive Indulgence in 
good Food. 

It is just as possible to injure the 
digestion with good food as with 
bad, if too much of it is taken. By 
a process of training, the stomach 
can become developed out of pro- 
portion to the rest of the body, 
and then large quantities of food 
can be taken without any active 
symptoms of indigestion. The 
stomach becomes to the gourmand 
what the athlete's limbs are to him 
— capable of an amount of exertion 
beyond the powers of other men. 
But over-development is not good 
in any part of the body, be it 
muscle or be it stomach ; and the 
gourmnad pays the penalty before 



Indigestion after its Kinds. 51 

long. His powerful digestion lays 
up more pabulum than lie requires ; 
he grows in bulk without grow- 
ing in strength, and is one day 
seized with a fit of gout, — he is 
fortunate if it attacks his toe and 
not some vital organ, or the stom- 
ach itself. Gouty dyspepsia is one 
of the most troublesome kinds to 
treat. Gout may be inherited as 
well as acquired, so it is not always 
the sufferer's own fault. There is 
in cases of gouty dyspepsia much 
acidity, flatulence, pain, and con- 
stipation. 

3. From Alcohol. 

The man who drinks excessively 
of beer loses consciousness, and has 
an acute attack of indigestion and 



52 Indigestion after its Kinds. 

vomiting. The vomiting relieves 
his stomach, a few hours' sleep 
restoring his senses, and after a 
day's indisposition he is well. But 
one who habitually indulges in beer 
and not necessarily to such excess, 
will have chronic dyspepsia of a dif- 
ferent kind. Alcohol acts on both 
the primary and the secondary 
digestion, and the action of beer is 
to relax all the tissues of the body. 
The beer-drinker gradually be- 
comes of the "flabby" or "sodden" 
type, probably pale and rather fat, 
and his digestion also becomes 
flabby and slow, and the tongue is 
large and yellow-coated, and there 
is much flatulence. Those who 
live active lives in the open air in 
the country do not show the effects 



Indigestion after its Kinds. 53 

so soon as those who live in towns 
and get little exercise. 

Wine and spirits act somewhat 
differently. They do not cause so 
much puffiness as beer, but they 
redden the skin more, causing dila- 
tation of the small blood-vessels, 
especially of the nose. Often there 
is pallor of the rest of the face, 
leaving the nose only red. There 
is in general wasting of the tissues 
of the body. 

One marked symptom of the alco- 
holic dyspepsia — and this applies to 
all kinds, whether from beer, wine, 
or spirits — is sickness in the morn- 
ing. There is bad appetite at any 
time, but in the morning, before 
anything has been taken, there is 
vomiting, of mucus generally. The 



54 Indigestion after its Kinds. 

tongue is tremulous, and there is a 
tremor through the body ; flatulence 
and constipation generally accom- 
pany this kind. 

4. From Tobacco. 

The first attempts to smoke are 
almost always attended with an 
acute attack of indigestion, deathly 
nausea, and vomiting. But habitual 
over-indulgence in tobacco causes 
dyspepsia of a different kind. In 
the most aggravated form it is 
characterized by perpetual sickness; 
no food can be retained, and at this 
time, smoking, and even the smell 
of tobacco, is intolerable. In the 
less severe cases it takes the form 
of acidity, heartburn, pain after tak- 
ing food, sinking sensation at the pit 



Indigestion after its Kinds. 55 



of the stomach, and generally con- 
stipation. 

5. From Tea. 

It would be difficult to say which 
is the greater cause of indigestion 
— alcohol or tea. It is true people 
don't often get drunk with the cup 
that u not inebriates" (though there 
has been one case reported, in which 
a woman who ate tea suffered from 
delirium tremens in consequence), 
but they do often get dyspepsia. 
In the tea dyspepsia the nervous 
symptoms predominate. There is 
more pain at the stomach than 
sickness or vomiting, the tongue 
is not so large and flabby as with 
beer-drinkers, and the subjects of 
it suffer more from what is called 



56 Indigestion after its Kinds. 

" nerves." They are always on 
high tension, easily startled, sleep 
little, and have no appetite for any- 
thing bnt — tea. They want tea 
always ; it is the only thing that 
relieves the " sinking " they com- 
plain of (itself a consequence of the 
tea). They suffer much from low 
spirits. 

6. From Cold. 

Few things stop digestion so soon 
as lowering the bodily temperature. 
A cold bath soon after a meal ar- 
rests the process completely, and 
is very apt to cause dangerous 
symptoms. A drive in cold air 
with insufficient wraps will cause 
symptoms of indigestion, chiefly 
pains in the stomach, and flatu- 



Indigestion after its Kinds. 57 



lence. The next meal gives great 
pain, and it takes some time for 
the stomach to recover from the in- 
jury. 

7. From Bad Air. 

When many hours of the twenty- 
four are passed in air that is spent, 
heated by gas, or polluted by the 
breath of human beings which can- 
not escape, it is impossible for the 
digestion to go on properly. The 
stomach, as well as the rest of the 
body, loses its proper vitality ; the 
digestive fluids are not able to 
transform the food eaten ; and, for 
want of proper oxygen in the 
blood, the secondary digestion is 
imperfectly performed. The re- 
sults are wasting and pain. 
5 



58 Indigestion after its Kinds, 

8. From Vinegar. 

Some persons who have a ten- 
dency to grow fat take to drinking 
vinegar, in order to prevent snch 
a dreadfully unbecoming calamity 
falling upon them. Many have 
succeeded by this means in bring- 
ing about "vinegar-consumption," 
and dying of it Others have gain- 
ed their object at the price of no 
worse a disease than ruined diges- 
tion. Constant acidity, pain after 
food, flatulence, flushing of the 
face, great thinness, are the leading 
symptoms of vinegar dyspepsia. 

9. From Tight-lacing. 

Another vanity for which many 
women pay dearly is a wasp-waist. 
Wherein the beauty of this ana- 



Indigestion after its Kinds. 59 

tomical enormity consists it is diffi- 
cult to discover, and it must be 
classed along with the foot deform- 
ing custom of the Chinese, and 
the head flattening of some tribes 
of North American Indians. The 
organs of digestion resent it, and 
show their resentment by painting 
the nose red, and torturing the 
offender whenever she attempts to 
put food into the stomach without 
leaving it proper room. Constipa- 
tion is usually one result of this. 

10. From Nervous Debility. 

Some of the most inveterate cases 
of indigestion arise from weakness 
of the nervous system. This may 
be brought on in many ways. It 
may be due to nervous strain or 



6o Indigestion after its Kinds. 

worry of business. It may arise 
from fright, mental shock, or anx- 
iety. Much more frequently it 
arises from evil habits and abuse 
of the organs of generation. One 
vicious boy at school will often 
corrupt numbers of others, and so 
the disease will spread like an in- 
fection, bearing fruit before long 
in the loss of all manly qualities, 
and in sufferings of a most dis- 
tressing kind connected with the 
process of digestion. These cases, 
like most of the others, are curable, 
but they need much care, and, of 
course, a sine qua non is the aban- 
donment of the habits that have 
brought about the disorder. 

ii. From Bloodlessness. 
Young girls between 12 and 20 



Indigestion after its Kinds. 61 

are very frequently affected with a 
disease commonly called " green- 
sickness.'' This is chiefly a fault 
of digestion, primary or secondary, 
or both, but it is also a fruitful 
cause of digestive troubles. There 
is almost complete loss of appetite, 
constant nausea, frequent vomiting. 
Usually, also, there is great weak- 
ness and constipation. When the 
condition is attended by violent 
pains at the stomach after all food, 
it is not easy to distinguish be- 
tween simple indigestion and ul- 
ceration of the stomach. This is 
usually declared by vomiting of 
blood in quantity, which never 
takes place in ordinary indiges- 
tion, and is rarely, if ever, absent 
at some period of ulceration. 



62 Indigestion after its Kinds. 

12. Medicinal. 

Many a sufferer from indigestion 
traces his troubles to the prescrip- 
tions of his doctor. It is one of the 
commonest experiences of medical 
life, to find digestion ruined by 
strong drugs given for other com- 
plaints. Others owe it not to their 
doctors, but to their own efforts to 
cure themselves with drugs. Prob- 
ably, in the first instance, it has 
been a slight attack of indigestion 
from indiscretion in diet, for which 
the offender has purchased a drug 
according to his own fancy. Then 
the drug has set up symptoms of its 
own, for which he has taken more 
drugs. More symptoms have fol- 
lowed, and the drugging has become 



Indigestion after its Kinds. 63 



a habit which he has not been able to 
break off. Palliatives, like Carbon- 
ate of Soda andBismut/z, are respon- 
sible for many cases of confirmed 
dyspepsia, and Iron, Mercury, and 
acids for many more. The symp- 
toms in these cases vary according 
to the drngs which have caused 
them. 

1 3 . Constitutional. 

A depraved or disordered consti- 
tutional state is often answerable 
for chronic indigestion. Persons 
who inherit a tendency to skin dis- 
ease frequently find that when 
their skin is affected their digestion 
is good, and vice versa. This is 
what Hahnemann called psora. In 
such cases, the only treatment that 



64 Indigestion after its Kinds. 

is of any permanent service is one 
which is directed to the constitution 
as a whole. The indigestion is 
only one symptom of many. 

Indigestion is frequently a man- 
ifestation of the consumptive ten- 
dency which is one of the branches 
of Psora, and in such cases Tuber- 
culinum or Bacillinum often greatly 
assists the cure. Occasional doses 
may be given inter-currently with 
the symptomatically indicated rem- 
edy. 

The hydrogenoid constitution of 
Grauvogl is answerable for many 
indigestive troubles. The symp- 
toms of this are an extraordinary 
sensitiveness to cold, damp, and 
barometrical changes. The persons 
are always chilly. Residence by 



Indigestion after its Kinds. 65 

water, in valleys, or forests, passing 
storms, and change of weather 
brings on attacks of illness, which 
takes various forms. Sometimes it 
is general malaise, with no definite 
symptoms, only the patient feels 
wretched, good for nothing. At 
other times it is an attack of asthma 
or ague. Certain kinds of food 
disagree with them, such as melons, 
cucumbers, mushrooms, bard-boiled 
eggs, watery fruits, fish, and some- 
times milk. They are generally 
pale, and have cold feet. They 
are better in summer than in 
winter, and are relieved when they 
perspire. This constitution may 
be inherited or acquired. It often 
follows malarial poisoning. The 
particular form of indigestion at- 



66 Indigestion after its Kinds, 

tending this constitution is marked 
by pains in the stomach, water- 
brash eructations of odourless gas, 
often brought on by eating watery 
fruits or vegetables and vegetable 
acids. There is distaste for animal 
food, though the appetite is often 
good. 

Vaccination often leaves behind 
it a depraved state of the consti- 
tution with many hydrogenoid 
symptoms, and the development 
of abdominal flatulence. Thuja 
meets most of these cases. 

14. From Gout, 

Chronic gout is answerable for 
much indigestion. It takes a great 
variety of forms and is often at- 
tended with pains in the joints or 



Indigestion after its Kinds. 67 

affections of the skin. There is loss 
of appetite, acidity, tendency to 
flatulence, generally constipation. 
Gouty persons are inclined to the 
formation of fat in spite of small 
appetite. This is in consequence of 
insufficient oxidation of the tissues. 
They have nearly always a great 
desire for the open air. 

Some persons who are constitu- 
tionally dyspeptic always suffer 
from an attack when the wind is in 
the east. 

In addition to the above-named, 
there are cases of dyspepsia arising 
from causes which cannot easily be 
classed, and some which seem to 
arise from no discoverable cause, 
and which are hence termed self- 
causing, or, in the medical phrase, 
i€ idiopathic. " 



68 Indigestion after its Kinds. 

In the following chapter I shall 
describe the treatment of the dif- 
ferent kinds of indigestion, and 
shall relate a nnmber of typical 
cases. 



CHAPTER V. 

TREATMENT OF INDIGESTION, WITH 
ILLUSTRATIVE CASES. 

i. Improper Food. 

Case I. — Convulsions from eating 
Indigestible Food, Cured by Nux 
vomica. 

OOME years ago I was called in a great 
^ hurry to see a girl, about eight years 
k old, in convulsions. The child was com- 
pletely unconscious, was struggling vio- 
lently, the eyes were distorted, and the 
face dark. It was the beginning of the 
fruit season, and I discovered that she 
had eaten some foreign plums an hour or 
so before the attack came on. There was 
scarcely any remission in the convul- 
sions; she went out of one into another. 
I mixed a few drops of Nux vomica in 



jo Treatment of Indigestion, 

water, and put a little of it between her 
teeth every two or three minutes. After 
a few doses she was quieter, and at last 
was able to swallow the medicine. I 
stayed with her for about an hour, by 
which time the convulsions had entirely 
ceased, and they did not return. She 
passed a quantity of the indigestible fruit 
by the bowels, and the next day was 
quite well. 

Nux vomica is the most fre- 
quently called for remedy in cases 
of acute indigestion from improper 
food. But if the food is of a rich 
or fat kind, as fat pork, Pulsatilla 
must be given. 

The dieting in these cases is a 
simple affair. No food of any kind 
should be given until the attack is 
over. If there is thirst, water or 
toast-water may be given, as much 
as is desired. 

When habitual disregard of the 



with Illustrative Cases. 71 

stomach's requirements has set up 
a chronic indigestion, the same 
remedies will be demanded accord- 
ing to their symptoms. Consult 
also in the Materia Medica, 
Arsen., Hydrast., Ac. carboL, Kali 
bichrom., and the chapter on Diet. 

2. Irregularities of Diet. 

Case II. — Extreme Dyspepsia with 
Mental Symptoms from Irregu- 
larities of Diet, etc., — Sulphur, 
Lycopodium, and Nux vomica. 

In November, 1890, I was written to 
from the country by a young lady com- 
plaining of inability to take any kind of 
food, more especially meat, without the 
most intense suffering, bodily and men- 
tal. From her description of her case I 
gathered that she might be helped by 
treatment, and asked her to come to 



7 2 Treatment of Indigestion y 

town to see me, which she did, accompa- 
nied by a friend. She was extremely 
thin, somewhat anaemic, with the ruddy 
complexion on a pale skin that is found 
in many cases of anaemia. She looked 
greatly depressed, and was, in fact, in 
very low spirits; very irritable, and liked 
to be alone. 

Up to the previous June she had been 
in excellent health. In that month she 
had visited a sister who was ill, and 
helped to nurse her. This entailed much 
worry, and she was subjected to great ir- 
regularity in the times of taking meals. 
In addition to this she was frequently ex- 
posed to cold, going out in thin shoes 
and getting her feet wet when heated. 

The first symptoms which ensued were 
— continual and almost unbearable pains 
in the back, severe headaches, loss of 
appetite, and unpleasant taste in the 
mouth, and a great distaste for meat. 
She had great thirst, and the bowels 
were constipated. At last she could not 



with Illustrative Cases. 73 

take the smallest piece of anything with- 
out great pain, and she became dread- 
fully low-spirited and cried much. She 
had a ' ' queer feeling in her head as if she 
could not think." She took medical ad- 
vice, but did not improve. In August 
her friends became so much alarmed 
about her condition, both mental and 
bodily, that they induced her to go away 
for a change to the seaside. There 
things got worse rather than better. She 
forced herself to eat in spite of the in- 
tense pain and general discomfort the 
food caused; she had constant nausea, 
especially in the morning, and either 
had diarrhoea or was constipated. Re- 
turning home she tried starving herself, 
taking only liquid foods and not much 
of them, and she found that the less she 
took of anything the better she felt, 
though she became very weak and felt 
dreadfully exhausted at times. 

Things went on very much in this 

way till she consulted me in November. 
6 



74 Treatment of Indigestion, 

Her condition at that time was as fol- 
lows: — 

She was extremely thin and weak. 
Though quite young, her hair was gray- 
ish, and had been so for three months. 
Her face burned frequently, and more 
especially after food. Her tongue was 
white; she had thick white phlegm in 
the throat, which felt sore and rough in 
the evening. 

The especial dyspeptic symptoms were 
the following, — a craving for food and a 
sense of weight felt in the lowest part of 
the abdomen, and made worse by eating. 
Sinking, empty feeling all day. Flatu- 
lence both of stomach and bowels. Vomits 
food at times. Sour eructations at times, 
and sometimes she hawks or coughs up 
white or yellow phlegm. Rumbling in 
the bowels, distension after food, particu- 
larly after breakfast. Bowels always 
constipated; motions dark, accompanied 
with pain; urine has been very thick and 
red, with sediment at times. 



with Illustrative Cases. 75 

There was aching in chest in the morn- 
ing on waking. Pulse slow and soft. 
Continual and almost unbearable pain in 
the back. Aching in limbs from exer- 
tion. Feet very cold; hands and feet 
used formerly to perspire much, but have 
not done so for the last three or four 
months. Sleep poor, wakes between 3 
and 4 A. m. She is very chilly, and is 
better when warm. She received Sulphur 
as a medicine, and was told that in spite 
of the suffering it gave her she must per- 
severe in taking food. She was to have 
scalded milk (that is, cold milk into 
which an equal quantity of boiling water 
has been poured) in place of tea and coffee. 
Breakfast at 8, of porridge, raw egg or 
bacon. At 1 o'clock, beef-tea, milk pud- 
ding, no vegetables. At 5, toast with 
scalded milk. At 8.30, bread and milk. 

In a fortnight she reported herself better 
in some respects. The pain in the back 
was less severe. She had not vomited, 
though the nausea continued. She com- 



76 Treatment of Indigestion, 

plained of a sensation as if the food rose 
up into the throat and stuck there. There 
was less flatulence. The urine was clearer. 
The bowels were still confined, though 
she had an action each day. She felt the 
intense cold of the weather very much. 
She still slept badly. Eggs disagreed 
with her. 

The next prescription was Lycopodium; 
and in the way of diet I ordered Nichol's 
"Food of Health" (a preparation of 
wheat) in place of oatmeal porridge. 
The Lycopodium seemed to aggravate 
her symptoms ; she felt less well ; the 
constipation became worse ; she had a 
worrying headache in forehead and left 
temple ; thick jelly-like and greenish or 
yellow phlegm from upper part of throat 
came after eating. The Lycopodium was 
now replaced by Nux vomica, and this 
made a speedy change for the better. In 
a week the pains in the body and back 
were much better ; the headaches had 



with Illustrative Cases. 77 

gone ; the constipation was better ; she 
could eat eggs without any discomfort ; 
and her spirits were very much better. 
Though still waking early in the morning, 
she was practically quite well in body and 
mind by the end of January. I forgot to 
mention, as showing the alarming state 
she was in, that the friend who came with 
her when she visited me first, asked me 
privately, after the interview, if I did not 
think the patient was going out of her 
mind. My reply was, that the mental 
condition was secondary to the bodily 
disease, and would become all right when 
the latter was remedied. 

This was a case in which the condition 
had gone so far that mere reform in diet 
was not sufficient to restore the patient ; 
the additional help of the gentle powers 
of homoeopathic medicines was needed 
for the cure. 



78 Treatment of Indigestion, 

3. Alcohol. 

The value of Nux vomica in 
dissipating the effects of a too free 
indulgence in the pleasures of the 
table is too well known to need 
illustrating. The splitting head- 
ache, dirty tongue, and absence of 
appetite, experienced the following 
morning, sends the delinquent who 
has once tried it to the Nux vomica 
bottle ever after. Older sinners, 
with tremulous, white-coated 
tongue, vomiting in the morning, 
pale face, and no appetite, will find 
some relief from Antim. tart., and 
if they can be persuaded to give up 
their tippling habits, they may re- 
cover and preserve a measure of 
the strength they have squandered. 



with Illustrative Cases. 79 

And even when it has come to a 
case of " hob-nail " liver and dropsy, 
hope must not be abandoned, as 
the following case will show : — 



Cask III. — Chronic Alcoholism ; Cir- 
rhosis of the Liver; Dropsy; In- 
digestion ; Great Amelioration, 
— Chi?ia y Kali carb. 

On the nth of December, 1886, there 
came to my clinique at the Homoeopathic 
Hospital a man, E. T., aged 45, an 
inspector on the railway by occupation. 
He was a tall, large man, having his 
face covered with the red spots charac- 
teristic of spirit drinkers. He had recently 
been discharged from St Thomas's Hospi- 
tal as incurable, having been in there thir- 
teen weeks, during which period he was 
tapped four times for dropsy. Ever since 
he was tapped the third time he had 



80 Treatment of Indigestion. 

» — 

suffered from pain about the navel shortly 
after anything he had eaten or drunk. 

In addition to this, he complained of 
swelling of the limbs and body, coldness 
of the hands, pain in the bowels, the 
motions being light, and bad sleep. The 
tongue was clean, the appetite good in 
spite of the pain caused by eating. There 
was much dropsy of the legs and body, 
the liver was hard and small, and its 
sharp edge could be distinctly felt beneath 
the ribs. He had been a great drinker, 
his favourite drink being gin and water, 
cold. When he left St. Thomas's Hospital 
he was not warned about his drinking 
habits. 

Nine months previous to the date of 
my seeing him first, he had been for six 
weeks under his club doctor, and received 
so much benefit that he thought he was 
cured. 

Three years previously he had lost his 
wife and his health had^never been the 



with Illustrative Cases. 81 

same after. He suffered from rheumatic 
gout at times. Sixteen years before, he 
had gastric fever very badly, but except 
for these had never suffered from any 
illness. 

When this patient came to me first I 
happened to have several medical students 
connected with St. Thomas's Hospital 
watching my work, and as they were 
acquainted with the case of E. T. , and 
the treatment he had received at St. 
Thomas's, and its results, they were 
anxious to see what else could be done 
for him. 

I prescribed China in the i x dilution to 
be taken three times a day, with the same 
medicine in the 30 th dilution to be taken 
at bedtime. I also cautioned him about 
his drinking habits, but I regret to say, 
without very much effect. 

He returned in a fortnight, and his 
former hospital acquaintances were able 
to note a marked change for the better, 



82 Treatment of Indigestion, 

He had lost all pains after food, and 
also the pains in his limbs, which were 
smaller; the abdomen was less distended; 
the motions were darker in colour, and 
a troublesome cough from which he 
suffered was better also. 

Under this same medicine he steadily 
improved ; gradually all the dropsy dis- 
appeared out of his legs, and he was able 
to do his work with comfort. Once, when 
his face became very troublesome, the 
pimples being inflamed and red, I gave 
him Kali carb. 30 for a few days, and 
with good effect. This was the only alter- 
ation I made in the original prescription, 
and he ceased attending on March 25th. 

He continued at work till the following 
autumn, and might have been at work 
still, in my opinion, if he could only have 
kept from alcohol. This, however, he failed 
to do, and I heard that he died after a 
very short illness following a severe cold. 



with Illustrative Cases. 83 

4. Tobacco. 

Case IV. — Aggravated Dyspepsia 
caused by Tobacco Poisoning, 
Cured mainly by Nux vomica. 

At Christmas, 1886, an active man of 
business came up from the country to 
place himself under my care with symp- 
toms of acute indigestion. He was 46 
years of age, short but stout, and had 
been exceedingly strong ; his complexion 
was dark and rather sallow. There was 
not much doubt about the cause of his 
indigestion. He had commenced to smoke 
at 12, and had continued to use the drug 
in excess, both chewing and smoking, 
until a year before he came to see me. 
At that time he had met with an accident, 
being thrown from his trap, and after this 
his health failed rapidly. He began to be 
sick after his breakfast ; had tingling in 
his right thigh ; lost flesh ; was bilious 
and depressed. He left off his after- 



84 Treatment of Indigestion, 

breakfast pipe, and only smoked after his 
dinner. The sickness then ceased for a 
time, but soon returned as badly as ever. 
He consulted several medical men, and 
received a little help from some of them. 
In September a lay friend, who is skillful 
in the use of Homoeopathy, happening to 
be visiting at his house, took him in hand, 
and gave him Nux vomica. At that time 
smoking was an impossibility ; he vomited 
as soon as he attempted to smoke ; his 
sickness was extreme ; he could not walk 
along the street without vomiting. Under 
Nux vomica he improved in a surprising 
manner, and soon regained appetite and 
digestion. In a week he felt so well that 
he thought he might try a pipe again. 
Again the sickness came on as violently 
as before, and this time, though the Nux 
helped him, it did not restore him so 
completely as at first. Now his sensitive- 
ness to tobacco was so great that he could 



with Illustrative Cases. 85 

not bear to be in a room where anyone 
was smoking. 

When he came under my care, Nux 
was again the chief agent in his restora- 
tion. Calc. carb. was very efficient in 
correcting the acidity which was one of 
his symptoms, and Iodide of Arsenic also 
did him great good, but Nux again 
practically cured him. He was able, 
when I heard from him last, to eat any 
kind of food ; he attended to his business, 
and was steadily gaining weight. Of 
course all this time he abstained from 
tobacco. 

Besides the remedies used in this case, 
Ipecac, is also a useful remedy in tobacco 
dyspepsia, relieving the sickness greatly. 

Case V. — Indigestion with Indu- 
rated Liver; Alcoholic History. 

A city gentleman, about 50, came to 
me in- the summer of 1895, complaining 
of a pain in his left flank and round the 



86 Treatment of Indigestion. 

body, giddiness, flatulence, and great 
depression of spirits. Eight years before 
he had had stone in the bladder. For 
the last two or three years he had 
suffered from liver symptoms, and since 
then he had been very chilly, whereas 
previously he never felt the cold. He 
had had eczema severely, but he found 
out that it was only when he took fruit. 
The giddiness occurred when he turned 
his head. This had troubled him at 
times since the previous winter, when he 
had several severe attacks, the first one 
occurring in a train. 

His tongue was dirty. Good appetite 
except for breakfast. His appetite was 
better than his digestion. Formerly he 
had been in the habit of drinking too 
much beer, but recently he had taken 
none, though he had not given up alcohol 
altogether. He had a sinking sensation 
at the epigastrium before lunch. Had a 
pain in left flank and all round the 



with Illustrative Cases. 87 

abdomen when he moved. The bowels used 
to be constipated, but since he had taken 
Carbo veg. on his own account that had 
been remedied, and he had discarded the 
use of Hunyadi Janos water, on which he 
had depended before. He had a pain in 
the soft part of the loins going round to 
the front on both sides. The fingers were 
shrivelled as in cholera patients ; and after 
washing there was a peculiar odour from 
the tips, lasting a long time. 

On examination I found his liver was 
considerably enlarged, and very hard and 
tender. There w r as a venous zig-zag 
along the attachment of the diaphragm. 
The indication for Bryonia, especially 
the marked aggravation from movement, 
was sufficiently clear, and he received 
that medicine in the 30th. 

Sixteen days later he reported that the 
pain gradually disappeared, also the dead- 
nessof the fingers; was free fromheadache, 



88 Treatment of Indigestion , 

but had slept badly on account of irrita- 
tion at the rectum. 

R. SuL 30 ter die. Verbascum Oint- 
ment. 

Three weeks later he reported himself 
much better. Irritation gone. Very little 
indigestion. The liver was softer, though 
the spleen dulness was increased. He 
was suffering from a cold, for which Cepa 
30 was given with relief, and then he had 
Nat. mur. 30. Calc. c. and Psor. 30 
were given later, and he lost all his dis- 
tressing symptoms, though his weight re- 
mained much below his normal. 

Cask VI. — Tobacco and Whisky Dys- 
pepsia — Lycopodiu m . 

Here is a somewhat similar case of more 
recent date. J. M., 35, wrote to me from 
the north of Scotland in May, 1890, com- 
plaining of indigestion which had troubled 
him for four years, before which time he 
had been exceptionally strong. 

The chief symptoms he complained of 



with Illustrative Cases. 89 

were: A sweetish taste in the mouth; 
tongue thickly coated, white in the morn- 
ing and yellow in the evening; hot, 
burninig risings in the throat, which was 
inflamed at the right side sometimes; 
white sediment in the urine after stand- 
ing. Besides these he had other related 
symptoms; he was unable to think at 
times, could not concentrate his thoughts 
on any matter he had to do, and at those 
times he had a feeling as if the blood 
were running cold in his head; he was 
either very drowsy or sleepy, or else very 
cross, and his sleep was unrefreshing. 
He was always chilly, always catching 
cold, and obliged to wear very heavy 
clothing. He was a heavy smoker, and 
also took whisky. These I stopped, and 
also forbade all kinds of stimulating food 
and drinks. The medicine I prescribed 
was Nux vom. in a high attenuation. 

In a month he wrote that he was still 
troubled a good deal with the sour risings, 
7 



90 Treatment of Indigestion, 

the condition of the mouth, and the white 
sediment in the urine. It was evident the 
Nux was not a sufficiently deeply-acting 
remedy to reach his complaint; though 
for the purpose of antidoting the effect of 
his bad habits and of preparing the way 
for the constitutional remedy, it was the 
natural one to think of first. The next 
medicine on the list of similars was Ly co- 
podium, the leading indications being — 
acid risings, sore throat, worse on right 
side, white sediment in urine (though with 
Lycopodium it is more characteristically 
red), excessive chilliness, mental confu- 
sion. I sent him three powders of the 
medicine in the same attenuation, with 
directions to take one at bedtime, one 
the following morning, and one again at 
bedtime. The medicine was now allowed 
to act without further repetition. 

The change wrought by these three 
doses may be estimated by the man's own 
words. Writing a month later, he said, 



with Illustrative Cases. 91 

14 I have felt much better with the last 
medicine than the first. The tongue is 
less white, sometimes the coat has cleaned 
right off, though it has come on again. 
I feel much stronger now and quite 
warm." No more medicine was given 
or required. The increase in the bodily 
heat is a sure sign of regained vitality. 



5. Tea. 

Case VII. — Tea Dyspepsia, Cured by 
Merc. sol. , Actcea racemosa, etc. 

Emma E. , 39, dressmaker, consulted me 
at the London Homoeopathic Hospital on 
June 21st, 1883, complaining of the fol- 
lowing symptoms: — Great nervousness; 
pain in the left side when she ate; sen- 
sation as if there was a weight on the 
shoulders and back, especially when tired; 
aching in the nape of the neck all day; 
offensive breath, bleeding gums, bad taste 



92 Treatment of Indigestion, 

in the mouth, white tongue ; restless 
sleep. The bowels were regular and the 
appetite good. She took her meals at 
regular times, and drank ni7ie cups of tea 
in a day. 

I told her she must give up her tea, 
and gave her Merc. sol. 6, in drop doses 
four times a day. 

She returned in a fortnight, and re- 
ported that she had reduced her allow- 
ance to six cups daily. 

The sharp pains she complained of were 
better than they had been for years, and 
she slept better ; the breath was still 
offensive. Repeat medicine. 

She was not able to attend for a few 
w r eeks, and having been out of medicine 
was not so well. She was so very nervous. 
By this time she had got down to four 
cups a day. Repeat medicine. 

On Aug. nth, she received Act. rac. for 
headache, and did not return till Oct. 6th, 
when she reported that the medicine had 



with Illustrative Cases. 93 

done her head good, but now she had sore- 
ness of the chest, and much flatulence. 
Carbo veg. 6, one drop four times a day. 

Nov. 3. — Has kept well till to-day. Now 
has palpitation ; headache at the back of 
the head ; sore feeling within the head ; 
giddiness ; flatulence. Gels. 1 , one drop 
four times a day. 

On Nov. 1 7, a fortnight after, she report- 
ed that she had not been so well for years. 
The head was very much better, and she 
had hardly any of the palpitation. She 
had now brought herself to two cups of tea 
a day. She received more of the medicine, 
and soon after ceased to attend. 

In each instance the medicine given 
responded admirably to its indications, but 
I question if she would have received much 
benefit if she had not, besides, cut down 
her allowance of tea. It is possible to 
antidote a poison when the poison is being 
taken, but it is easier to antidote its effects 
when it is no longer present. Sometimes 



94 Treatment of Indigestion, 

the effects of a poison, if not antidoted, 
will last for years after the last dose has 
been taken. 

Cask VIII. — Tea Dyspepsia. 

The next case I give not as an 
example of treatment, but as a 
typical case of the disease. The 
patient, for some reason or other, 
did not persevere with the treat- 
ment, bnt she has left me her 
history, and here I give it — 

M. G., 42, housewife, presented her- 
self at the Homoeopathic Hospital on 
Sept. 8th, 1883. 

She complained of pain in the chest, 
which she had had for weeks ; bad sleep ; 
pressure on the chest on falling asleep ; 
white tongue ; poor appetite ; headache 
across the forehead. She drank much 
tea, taking it three or four times a day. 



with Illustrative Cases. 95 

She felt very ill after it, especially if she 
took it hot. 

Bryonia made no improvement in her 
case; she had much sickness and retching, 
and the head was very sore. She did not 
report herself after the second visit. 

Tea produces two sets of symptoms, 
nervous and dyspeptic, and sometimes 
both combined. In some it produces fits 
of low spirits, and no other disorder. 
When taken to great excess, it causes 
paralysis. Besides the medicines given 
in the above reported cases, China, Fer- 
rum, Thuja, and Arsenic are good anti- 
dotes to tea poisoning. 

6. Arsenic. 

Cask IX. — Arsenic Dyspepsia, Cured 
by Bryonia. 

Speaking of Arsenic reminds me 
of a frequent cause of dyspepsia, 
which I have not particularly 



96 Treatment of Indigestion, 

specified in the preceding chapter, 
but which I will illustrate here. 

A young married woman came to me 
some time ago, complaining of symptoms 
of dyspepsia, chiefly weight at the 
stomach and pains through from the pit 
of the stomach to the back between the 
shoulders after everything she ate. She 
was pale and her lips were somewhat 
pallid . The tongue was red, with a white 
silvery coating; the bowels were confined. 
She was temperate in all her habits. 

I suspected Arsenic at once. She said 
that her husband suffered from similar 
symptoms, and I told her to bring me 
some of her wall-paper, giving her Bry- 
onia to take until she came next. When 
she returned she reported very great im- 
provement in the symptoms. This might 
have made me doubt my first diagnosis, 
did I not know that it is possible to cure 
an effect sometimes even whilst the cause 



with Illustrative Cases. 97 

remains. I examined the paper, and then 
found Arsenic in great quantity. When 
the paper was taken away, both she and 
her husband became perfectly well. 

7. Cold. 

Cask X. — Dyspepsia from Cold, 
Cured by Carbo veg. 

Exposure to cold has the effect 
of stopping digestion, the result of 
which is, in a general way, to pro- 
duce a great quantity of gas in the 
stomach and intestines. 

A professional man, riding home on the 
top of an omnibus, facing a cold wind, 
felt pains in his chest and body of a 
sharp cutting kind. He had experienced 
the same thing on previous occasions, and 
had at times suffered off and on for days 
from weak digestion, the symptoms re- 
turning after every meal. On this par- 



98 Treatment of Indigestion, 

ticular occasion, a few drops of Carbo veg. 
6 relieved him at once of all his trouble. 

Cask XI. — Dyspepsia from Cold — 
Plumbum. 

A young lady, after leaving off a flan- 
nel skirt for some obscure reason in cold 
weather, was seized with violent pains in 
her body, aggravated after everything she 
ate, no matter what. The pains kept her 
awake at night, and she had cramp in 
her calves and constipation. After some 
remedies had been given without bene- 
fit, Plumbum 6 cured her on this occa- 
sion, and also subsequently when a 
similar imprudence brought on a renewal 
of the attack. 

8. Bad Air. 

Cask XII. — Dyspepsia from Bad Air. 

Wm. D., 33, lithographer, consulted 
me at the Homoeopathic Hospital for in- 
digestion, flatulence, inability to sleep, 



with Illustrative Cases. 99 

loss of memory, and constipation. He 
was temperate and did not smoke. He 
worked much over gas, and to this I at- 
tribute the greater part of the symptoms. 
Nux vomica made a great alteration for 
the better in all his symptoms, and he did 
not return till two months later. Then 
he had a return of the old symptoms with 
piles, and again Nux, with a dose of 
Sulphur at bedtime, put him right. 

9. Vinegar Dyspepsia. 

When acidity and flatulence are 
the leading symptoms of this form 
of dyspepsia, Carbo veg. is the best 
remedy. When the wasting is ex- 
treme, Iodine must be given. 

10. Tight-lacing Dyspepsia. 

The symptoms of this kind of 
dyspepsia are very varied, and will 
utfO, 



ioo Treatment of Indigestion, 

call for a great variety of remedies. 
Of course, the chief remedy is to 
discard stays and let the ribs have 
their natural motion, and the abdo- 
minal organs room to act properly. 
Nux vomica, Carbo veg., Bryonia, 
Ignatia, and Sulphur, must be con- 
sulted. 

1 1 . Dyspepsia from Nervous 
Debility. 

Case XIII.— Dyspepsia from Nervous 
Shock — Iodine. 

A young lady of gouty family, but en- 
joying good health, active, well nourished, 
and somewhat stout, met with a severe 
nervous shock. From that time her health 
failed. She lost appetite, all food becoming 
distasteful to her, she had frequent attacks 
of vomiting, and from being stout, wasted 
rapidly. She had been under treatment 



with Illustrative Cases. 101 

before coming to me, and had received 
some benefit, but not much. After trying 
one or two medicines, I put her on Iodine, 
and on this she began to recover steadily. 
After taking this some time she was re- 
stored to a large measure of health and 
comfort, though when she left off treat- 
ment she was not quite the same as she 
w 7 as before the shock. 

This is one type of dyspepsia 
from nervous weakness. Business 
causes and continued anxieties are 
equally prejudicial to digestion, 
and are best removed by such 
medicines as Ignatta. 

But there is another and often 
more serious kind of dyspepsia, 
where the disease is due not to 
mental but to physical causes. The 
usual history is the acquirement of 
evil habits at school, young boys 



102 Treatment of Indigestion, 

being led on by those older and 
wickeder than themselves. These 
habits are indulged in secretly, 
until something happens to startle 
the youth into a sense of his 
criminal folly. 

Cask XIV. — Dyspepsia resulting 
from Nervous Debility. 

A youth with the above history con- 
sulted me a year or so ago for his indiges- 
tion. He had great flatulence, which he 
was continually belching, acidity, and 
heartburn, great sleepiness (w 7 hich was a 
serious trouble to him, as he was working 
for an examination). He had queer feel- 
ings in his head, and had attacks of 
nausea, but did not vomit. His bowels 
were constipated. He came of a dyspep- 
tic family, and had been allowed to eat 
indigestible things when a child, but that 
was not the cause of his present attack, 



with Illustrative Cases, 103 

though both circumstances helped to 
make it the difficult case it was to treat. 

There were certain things that made 
his symptoms worse. The eructations 
were worse after eating water-melon or 
rice pudding, and much worse after blanc- 
mange and custard. 

He had a voracious appetite. 

I put him on a very strict regimen, 
which he faithfully followed. He had 
been in the habit of dining in the middle 
of the day, and taking tea in the after- 
noon about four hours after his dinner, 
and a supper late. 

I told him to take only three meals a 
day, at 8:30, 1 and 6:30. He was never 
to eat as much as he could; he was to 
take no tea nor stimulants of any kind, 
but to drink for breakfast, milk with 
boiling water, take only a very light meal 
in the middle of the day, of beef or mut- 
ton, vegetables (excluding potatoes), and 
some milk pudding; a similar meal was to 



104 Treatment of Indigestion , 

be taken at 6:30, and nothing after or 
between. For breakfast I allowed him 
bacon with stale bread, toast or biscuit. 
After the last meal he was not to study, 
but to read light things, and take a two 
miles' walk before going to bed. 

Then I cut down his sleeping hours. 
He had been sleeping too much, from 
about 10:30 to 7:30. I ordered him to 
be in bed at 10:45, and to rise at 6:45, 
take a cold sponge bath and work before 
breakfast. 

Under this regimen he made consider- 
able improvement, but the chief features 
of his indigestion remained unchanged. 

Nux vom. gave him a great deal of help, 
and Nux moschata did something towards 
relieving the drowsiness. Acid. phos. i x , 
five drops in water for a beverage, to be 
drunk at lunch and dinner, also proved 
helpful. Calc. c. and Puis, relieved the 
acidity, and finally ISiatrum muriaticum 
completedthe cure, relieving constipation 



with Illustrative Cases. 105 

as well as the other remaining symptoms 
of indigestion. 

He was altogether under treatment 
about 10 months. At the end of this 
time he was able to work many hours a 
day without feeling any drowsiness. He 
could eat eggs, rice and other articles 
without inconvenience; and he was able 
to make a good appearance in a scholar- 
ship examination. 

I have found Nat. mur. of im- 
mense service in similar cases. 
China, Ignatia, Platina, Oxalic 
acid, and Sulphur have also helped 
much. 

12. Indigestion and Chlorosis. 

Anaemia, green-sickness, or 
chlorosis is attended with indiges- 
tion as one of its main symptoms. 



io6 Treatment of Indigestion, 



Cask XV. — Indigestion of Chlorosis 
Cured by Petroleum. 

Not long ago I was asked to seethe maid 
of a patient of mine. She was pale and 
bloodless to an intense degree, had no 
appetite, loathed meat, and could hardly 
be persuaded to swallow solid food of any 
kind. It gave her pain and made her sick. 
She had great breathlessness on exertion, 
especially on going upstairs, of which she 
had much to do in the course of the day. 
I put her on milk diet, and allowed her 
nothing else. At first she was only able 
to take this diluted with boiling water. 
This effected some improvement. I then 
gave her as a medicine Petroleum, and the 
benefit was soon manifest. The sickness 
left her ; she was able to take other food 
besides milk, and with appetite; her colour 
came back, and the catamenia, which had 
completely stopped, returned. She was 
able to do her work with much less diffi- 



with Illustrative Cases. 107 

culty, for she did not give up for a single 
day. 

Here is a similar case: — 

Cask XVI. — Dyspepsia of Anemia 
simulating Ulceration of the 
Stomach Cured by Argent, nit. 

Alice C, 15, consulted me at ' the 
Homoeopathic Hospital. She complained 
of severe pain after eating. It had been 
worse the last three weeks. She had had 
the same pain the previous winter. The 
pain was in the pit of the stomach, which 
was very tender. It came on an hour 
after food. She grew sick, but did not 
vomit. She was thirsty and had no ap- 
petite. The tongue was clean; bowels 
regular. She had had diarrhoea. 

The pulse was frequent; she was very 
breathless; was pale, and had all the 
symptoms of anaemia. 

I gave her Argentum nitricum thrice 
daily, and all the indigestion symptoms 



io8 Treatment of Indigestion, 

disappeared. She told me that when she 
had missed taking the medicine at proper 
times, she had had return of the pain. 

In this case there was more pain and 
less sickness and absence of appetite than 
in the one cured by Petroleum. Also the 
anaemia was less intense. 

13. Drug Dyspepsia. 

When dyspepsia is the result of 
frequent drugging, the first thing to 
do is to stop everything in the shape 
of drugs, and put the patient on 
strict rules of diet. He should not 
be closely restricted to articles of 
diet, but should be very particular 
about the time of feeding, giving 
the stomach proper intervals of rest. 
He must beware of taking too 
little food. Dyspeptics of this kind 
are very apt to leave off by degrees 



with Illustrative Cases. 109 

one article of diet after another 
which they have found disagrees 
with them (and everything dis- 
agrees), till they have hardly any- 
thing left that they can eat. They 
must be encouraged to be a little 
daring, and as everything will give 
them pain at first, to eat everything 
except the most indigestible articles. 
In this way the stomach will become 
accustomed much more to proper 
meals. When this treatment has 
been pursued for some time, then 
Homoeopathy will be able to step in 
and help the patient. In these cases 
there is no very definite set of symp- 
toms, and therefore the Materia 
Medica must be consulted to discern 
which drug is likeliest in its effect 
to the condition of the patient. 



1 10 Treatment of Indigestion, 

14. Miscellaneous Kinds. 

Among the unclassed kinds of 
dyspepsia I will mention next tlie 
case of a young lady who was never 
wellin London , and never ill out of it. 

Case XVII. — London Dyspepsia — 
Abies nigra. 

This patient had been under me some 
years before for a sharp attack of inflam- 
mation of the bowels, recovery from 
which was greatly retarded by an arseni- 
cal w T all paper with which her bed-room 
was papered. 

Now, whenever she is in London she 
has violent attacks of indigestion, and also 
has constipation. The pain she suffers is 
in the pit of the stomach, and right side. 
It is of a cramping, tearing nature, and is 
much worse w T hen the bowels are relieved. 
She has great chilliness. She cannot eat 



with Illustrative Cases, in 

meat or any solid food, and is obliged to 
restrict herself to a diet of milk with boil- 
ing water (in place of tea or coffee), reva- 
lenta, figs stewed in milk, and biscuits in 
place of bread. I found some medicines 
help her a little, especially Abies nigra, 
which relieved the pain, the chilliness, and 
the constipation, and seemed at one time 
as if it w 7 as going to cure her. But the 
constipation returned, though not the 
dyspeptic symptoms in their old intensity. 
However, nothing cured her till she went 
into the country, and within a week of 
her leaving she was able to eat anything 
she liked, and the bowels gave no trouble 
at all. 

I have known the reverse of this hap- 
pen — people who are healthy in London 
and yet suffer all kinds of discomfort 
when living at home in the midst of a 
pine-forest. 



ii2 Treatment of Indigestion, 

Case XVIII. — Dyspepsia of Six 
Years' Standing Cured by Abies. 

A barrister consulted me in the autumn 
of 1886 about an indigestion from which 
he had suffered for six years. He was 
temperate, and there was no clear cause 
for his trouble. His symptoms w 7 ere op- 
pression, feeling as if something stuck in 
the pit of his stomach, flatulence, ten- 
dency to constipation, depression, great 
chilliness, difficulty in concentrating his 
thoughts; he felt worse when he ate a good 
deal. His pulse was 84, soft. Before his 
illness came on he had had exceedingly 
good health. The symptoms all pointed to 
one medicine, Abies nigra. I gave this, 
and the one prescription practically cured 
him. When he returned, though his 
symptoms had not all gone, he was prac- 
tically a different creature. The pain at 
the stomach pit had almost disappeared. 
He was no longer chilly. He was able to 



with Illustrative Cases. 113 

work better. His bowels were open. I re- 
peated his medicine, and that completed 
the cure. 

15. Constitutional Indigestion. 

When indigestion is one of the 
symptoms of amorbid constitutional 
state — whether gout or rheumatism , 
or one of those designated by Hah- 
nemann^?/^ and ^6tfz> — the treat- 
ment will have to be adapted to the 
constitution, and not directed to the 
stomach alone or chiefly, as when 
that organ is primarily at fault. 

The remedies most useful in 
dyspepsia of gout are, Sulphur, 
Carbo vegetabilis, and Lycopodium. 
Patients who have loss of appetite 
every spring and autumn, and find 
they cannot digest eggs as they 
can at other times, who suffer from 



ii4 Treatment of Indigestion, 

drowsiness, heaviness on waking, 
unpleasant taste in the mouth, and 
possibly constipation, will be 
greatly benefited by a few doses of 
Sulphur. Others who have flatu- 
lence with pains in the chest, are 
chilly, and yet desire air ; bowels 
open or loose, require Car bo veg. 
Lycopodium is suited for those who 
have flatulence in the bowels, with 
constipation, and urine giving a 
red deposit. 

I will now relate two cases in 
point. 

Cask XIX.— A Chronic Constitution- 
al Cask with Dilatkd Stomach ; 
Rkcurrknt Fistula, Curkd with 
Sulphur. 

A >ear or two back an officer in the 
army, who had seen a good deal of service 
abroad, came to consult me about his 
digestion. He was 45 years of age, and 



with Illustrative Cases. 115 

though a man of large frame, was wasted 
to a degree. He brought with him a 
photograph taken before the illness 
commenced, and it was difficult to recog- 
nize any resemblance between it and the 
patient in his then condition. 

His history in brief was as follows : — 
For ten years he had had indigestion 
with constipation and piles. He had lost 
much flesh, especially in the last year. 
In India he had had fever and had taken 
much quinine. Lately he had taken 
much quack medicine, principally for 
opening the bowels. 

Seventeen years before I saw him he 
had had a ( ■ boil ' ' form near the anus, and 
ever since then after great exertion he had 
had a recurrence of anal abscess and fis- 
tula. The last time w T as eight months be- 
fore. It bled much, but had never formed 
again, and since that time his indigestion 
had been worse. He had been a great 
smoker, but for ten months had not 
smoked at all. 



n6 Treatment of Indigestion, 

When he came to me he was having 
attacks every week of violent vomiting. 
In two minutes he would vomit as much 
as a gallon of fluid, sour or sweet. The 
least exertion caused him to vomit. There 
was pain and great thirst in the stomach, 
but not severe. The stomach I found to 
be considerably dilated, the spleen some- 
what enlarged, and there were some en- 
larged glands in the groin. 

The tongue was dirty ; often there was 
a bad taste, and the mouth was clammy 
and sticky in the morning. Up till ten 
years before, the bowels had been regular, 
but since then has had constipation, which 
he has taken purgatives to relieve. The 
piles were not painful, but bled, and at 
times came down. He had cramp in the 
calves, and cold, dry feet. Sleep was rest- 
less. He took long to go off, and waked 
early in the morning. He was very 
irritable and wished to be left alone. 

I gave him Sulphur 30 three times a 



with Illustrative Cases. 117 

day, and told him to take no purgatives, 
but to use eneinata if necessary. 

In a month he reported himself very 
much better, and it was plain to see that 
he was quite a different man . He had 
had much fewer attacks, and those that 
came were less severe. He had been able 
to eat meat again without discomfort, 
though he had been subsisting on porridge 
and gruel chiefly before. The excessive 
thirst had gone, and though the constipa- 
tion remained, the piles were very much 
better. The urine, which had been thick 
and offensive, was now normal. Sleeps bet- 
ter, though he still wakes at 4 a.m. Sul- 
phur 30 twice a day, and Nux v. at bed- 
time. 

In another month still further improve- 
ment was apparent. He had filled out 
to such an extent that he did not at all 
belie his photograph. He complained 
chiefly of his appetite being too good, 
being most hungry in the afternoons. 
At times the thirst returned, and he had 



1 1 8 Treatment of Indigestion , 

flatulence sometimes. There was still a 
tendency to early waking. 

Lycopodium was now given, and that 
completed the cure. 

Now this was a decidedly constitutional 
case. The indigestion was only one mani- 
festation of his ailment, and this became 
worse when the fistula healed. The fistula 
and the indigestion were not two com- 
plaints — but one; and only deeply acting 
constitutional remedies, homoeopathically 
related to all affected parts of the organ- 
ism could have cured the patient. Severe 
measures, such as surgical treatment of 
the piles, or acids or alkalies to correct the 
state of the stomach, though sanctified 
by the approval of the highest scientific 
authority in the old school, is the merest 
cobbling work, and no true cure at all. 



with Illustrative Cases. 119 



Cask XX. — A Chronic Cask arising 

FROM AN IMPROPKRI.YTREATKD SKIN 

Affection. Sulphur \Nux moschata. 

This patient was a clerk in the city in 
the early twenties, and he complained of 
having had indigestion twelve months. It 
came on suddenly one day after taking 
tea, and he could not account for it in any 
way. His principal symptom was that his 
food lay like a weight at the umbilical 
region. Sour eructations, and rising into 
the throat of bits of the last food taken. 
Bad taste in the mouth at times; good 
appetite; takes rather much salt. Thirsty 
after dinner, which he takes in the even- 
ing, and which is the meal which gives 
most trouble. Spirits low; headache occa- 
sionally. Sleepy after meals. Prefers cold 
weather, but always feels cold and is 
sensitive to draughts. Is a total abstainer 
and a non-smoker. 

Sulph. 30 ter die. 

A fortnight later he reported himself as 



1 20 Treatment of Indigestion, 

much better, and for several weeks under 
Puis., Lye, and Sulph. the improvement 
went on with fluctuations. 

One day he mentioned, among other 
symptoms, that his saliva was very thick, 
like cotton. 

R Nux mosck. 30 ter die for a week, to be 
followed with Salph. 30 for the next week. 

Whilst taking the Nux moschata the 
symptoms of indigestion vanished; but, to 
quote his own words, ' 'singularly enough, 
the same eruption appeared as existed 
before I had the indigestion. ' ' The Sulph. 
rather sent matters back this time, so I 
gave Nux mosck. again. 

I now for the first time obtained the 
history of the eruption. 

It w T as one of acne, which had been 
1 ' cured ' ' by local applications. In other 
words, the complaint had been driven 
from his skin to his internal organs. 

He was subject to eruptions w^hen 
young. Shaving w^as now difficult, the 
skin being so tender. Carbo an put that 



with Illustrative Cases. 121 

right. The Nux vioschata made him less 
chilly, and he did not require much medi- 
cine after these had done their work. 

Rheumatic dyspepsia will find its 
specifics in Bryonia, Kalibichromi- 

cum (especially where rheumatic 
pains and dyspeptic symptoms 
alternate), or Sulphur, Thepsoric 
individual will require very careful 
treating. The medicine of the 
widest range in the treatment of 
these cases is Sulphur, but his 
symptoms will require close stud}' 
and accurate comparison with the 
symptoms of the drugs in order to 
find the drug that most closely 
corresponds. For the hydrogenoid 
or sycotic constitution, in which the 
patient suffers intermittent^ from 
indigestion, with other symptoms, 
9 



122 Treatment of Indigestion, 

worse on every change of the 
weather, and especially when the 
air is damp and cold, Arsen., Nux, 
Ipec, and Natrum mur. will be 
found most useful according to the 
indications given in the Materia 
Medica. 



Wzfm- 



CHAPTER VI. 



DIET IN DYSPEPSIA. 



TT is just as easy to give too little 
food to dyspeptics as too much. 
When a stomach has once become 
whimsical, its whims will have to 
be disregarded in the process of 
breaking it into more wholesome 
habits. Of course, this will mean 
a certain amount of suffering at 
first, but the good results of it will 
soon be apparent. 

When there is ulceration of the 
stomach present, it will be neces- 
sary to give only liquid food, and 
of all liquid foods in these states, 
koumiss is the best. 



124 Diet in Dyspepsia. 

In acute attacks of indigestion 
the best of all remedies is to go 
without any food at all until the 
stomach has had time to recover 
itself. 

In the chronic cases where the 
vitality is low, and the general tone 
of health not robust, great care 
will be required in bringing the 
patient back to ordinary diet. Cold 
foods must be particularly avoided. 
Bread only sparingly used. Bread 
is not nearly so digestible an article 
as most people imagine, and dys- 
peptics should never eat bread and 
butter, or hot buttered toast. Dry 
toast is all they should indulge in. 
When toast is not tolerated, rusks 
or biscuits may take its place. 
Plain water-biscuits are the best ; 



Diet in Dyspepsia. 125 

such as Huntly & Palmer's "Break- 
fast biscuits," and "Captain's bis- 
cuits;" Cracknell's; and Spiking's 
(Dover Street, Piccadilly) " Oval 
Cheese biscuits," and "Lunch bis- 
cuits." For breakfast there is one 
cold article of diet dyspeptics may 
take, and that is the fat of very 
good cold boiled bacon. The}^ may 
have this with toast. 

Tea is bad for the digestion, and 
the habit of drinking tea in the after- 
noon is an exceedingly objection- 
able one. It breaks up the proper 
interval between lunch and dinner, 
and gives the tea its best possible 
chance of working its evil effects 
on the stomach. Coffee is not so 
injurious to the digestion as tea. 
It rather assists the digestion of 



126 Diet in Dyspepsia. 

fats which tea hinders. Though 
coffee has more tendency to cause 
headache, and with some persons 
flatulence and constipation, with 
others it assists the action of the 
bowels. Tea should never be taken 
without milk or cream, and it should 
never be strong, or taken after it has 
been made more than a few minutes. 

The teas of China are less in- 
jurious than those of India and 
Ceylon. Green teas are especially 
poisonous, and should never be 
taken under any circumstances. 

Cocoa possesses more of the 
nutrient and sustaining properties, 
and is less of a pure stimulant than 
either tea or coffee. Some object 
to it on that account, as they say 
they want a drink rather than a 



Diet in Dyspepsia. 127 

food. This difficulty may be 
avoided by using some of the 
lighter forms of cocoa, as Epps' 
Cocoaine, an extract made from 
the nibs ; or the nibs themselves, 
or the shells may be used for 
making the beverage. 

When meat cannot be taken, 
beef-tea must be substituted. Mut- 
ton is more digestible than beef, 
because in beef the fat is more 
intermixed with the fibre of the 
meat, and the fat is more difficult 
to digest, and the fibre is harder. 

In cases where there is manifest 
ulceration of the stomach, koumiss 
is the best food. It may be given 
alone every hour or every two 
hours, until the pain and vomiting 
have ceased and other food can be 



128 Diet in Dyspepsia. 

taken. When koumiss is not ob- 
tainable, milk and lime-water, or 
milk and soda-water may be sub- 
stituted. 

When dyspepsia is constitutional 
the particular constitution must 
be studied. 

Gouty patients should avoid all 
rich or highly-spiced foods, and eat 
little butter and milk except with 
tea or coffee. These should be 
taken not strong, and the tea only 
when freshly made. Meat should 
be taken once a day, never cold, 
and never cooked a second time. 
The less flatulent kinds of vegeta- 
bles are good, as French beans, 
spinach, young peas, also stewed 
celery. Potatoes should be avoided, 
and cabbage. Malt liquors, wines, 



Diet in Dyspepsia. 129 

and spirits should be avoided. 
Water is the best drink at meals ; 
Salntaris water or toast water may 
be substituted. Hard water should 
be carefully avoided. Gouty pa- 
tients should drink freely of liquids. 

Those who have a tendency to 
rheumatism should observe most of 
the rules indicated for the gouty. 
Excess of meat and milk are not 
good. Oatmeal porridge should be 
taken at breakfast; at lunch or 
dinner, soup, meat from the joint, 
with vegetables, plain rice or other 
farinaceous pudding without eggs, 
and no fruit. Toast-water should 
be the drink with the meals. Fresh- 
water fish, and watery fruits and 
vegetables, must be avoided. 

For the psoric no special rules 



130 Diet in Dyspepsia. 

can be laid down. They innst be 
dieted according to their symp- 
toms. The chilly " sycotic " patients 
mnst avoid all cold foods and 
watery foods, as the rheumatic. 
They may drink hot water, but 
never cold water. It will often be 
found beneficial to the circulation 
to sponge them every morning all 
over with spirit of wine before 
dressing. Fruit, milk, melons, 
mushrooms, hard-boiled eggs must 
be avoided. 

Oysters can sometimes be taken 
when nothing else can, and they 
contain a considerable amount of 
nourishment. They may be taken 
raw or cooked as desired. 

Pepsine and all the artificial di- 
gestives I do not like, except for 
short periods. The stomach is 



Diet i?i Dyspepsia. 131 

ready enough to accommodate itself 
to inaction ; and when it finds the 
food put into it already pepton- 
ised, it will not trouble itself to se- 
crete any pepsine itself. Hence it 
falls into bad habits, and finally the 
artificial pepsine ceases to suit the 
patient, whose stomach is then 
really weaker than before the pep- 
sine was given. 

An exception must be made in 
favour of a preparation I have found 
very useful, namely, Bullock? s Acid 
Glycerine of Pepsine, a teaspoonful 
being mixed in half a tumbler of 
hot water, and drunk at meals as a 
beverage. This is very pleasant to 
take, as well as efficient. It must 
not, however, be used continu- 
ously. 



132 Diet in Dyspepsia. 

Vitalia contains nourishment in 
the most concentrated form. It is 
valuable as a restorative and stimu- 
lant as well as a nutrient. 

Bovinine is another preparation 
of beef of great value. It is in a 
form to be absorbed almost imme- 
diately without digestive effort. 

Brand's beef jelly is the next 
best thing to good home-made beef- 
tea. 

Liebigh beef -tea is more of a 
stimulant than a nutrient. But if 
taken with biscuit it is nourishing. 

Among Milk preparations Hor- 
lic&s Malted Milk is one of the 
most valuable. It is in dry pow- 
dered form, and can be mixed with 
either hot or cold water, requiring 
no cooking. 



Diet in Dyspepsia. 133 

The various invalid foods are 
almost all good. Neave's, Ridge's 
and Du Barry's Revalenta (which 
consists chiefly of lentil flour, and 
may be replaced by the lentil flour 
itself) have obtained well-deserved 
reputations. 

In dieting dyspestics the most 
important thing is the times of 
eating ; next in importance is the 
quantity they take, most dj^speptics 
taking either too much or too little; 
and last, and less important than 
either of these two, is the regula- 
tion of the quality. 



CHAPTER VII. 

MATERIA MEDICA. 



'THERE is another way of classi- 
fying the different kinds of 
dyspepsia besides the one I have 
adopted above — that is, by taking 
the leading feature of each case. 
There are thus— flatulent dyspepsia, 
painful dyspepsia, acid dyspepsia, 
and many others. A division of 
this kind would cut through the 
classification I have already given, 
as examples of all these could be 
taken from any one of the kinds I 
have described. I have, therefore, 
decided to add this chapter of 



Materia Medica. 135 

Materia Medica, giving under each 
drug the particular symptoms 
which indicate its use in indiges- 
tion. By looking through the list of 
drugs I have given, the various dys- 
pepsias — flatulent, acid, and the rest 
— will find their counterparts de- 
scribed. The medicines are ar- 
ranged in alphabetical order, and 
only those characteristic S3^mptoms 
which indicate the medicines in 
cases of dyspepsia are given. 

Dose, — Unless otherwise stated, 
the dose of each medicine named 
should be one drop in water or on 
a small piece of sugar, or two 
pilules, of the 3d attenuation. It 
should be taken about an hour or 
half an hour before each meal. 

Abies nigra, — Loss of appetite 



136 Materia Medica. 

in the morning, but great craving 
for food at noon and night. Severe 
pain in the stomach after eating; 
sensation as if an undigested hard 
boiled egg were there. 

Actcza racemosa (also called 
Cimicifuga racemosa). — Great de- 
pression of spirits and feeling as 
if under a cloud. Severe head- 
ache, with aching in eyeballs. Un- 
pleasant taste in mouth, unpleasant 
breath, nausea, sinking faintness 
at pit of stomach, vomiting. Tea 
dyspepsia. 

Antimonium crudum. — Milky 
white tongue, or thickly coated 
tongue; eructations of wind, and 
fluid tasting of the food taken. 

Antimonium tartaricum. — Milky 
white tongue; nausea; vomiting and 



Materia Medica. 137 

prostration ; tremulousness. Use- 
ful in the dyspepsia of drunkards. 

Argentum nitricum. — Flatulent 
dyspepsia — the flatulence coming 
away easily and in great quantity. 
Great pain and tenderness at the 
stomach-pit, the pain being worse 
after any food. Palpitation and 
short breath ; anaemia. This medi- 
cine is especially useful in anaemic 
girls, and also for flatulent dys- 
pepsia resulting from eating cold 
food. Threatened ulceration of the 
stomach. 

Arsenicum. — Irritable state of 
digestive mucous membrane. (Red 
tongue, or red with thin, white 
silvery coat) ; thirst ; burning pain 
at the stomach ; faintness ; nausea, 
and vomiting. The bowels are 
10 



138 Materia Medica. 

generally loose ; there is a low 
feverish state ; wasting ; anxiety ; 
restlessness. 

This medicine is useful in ulcera- 
tion of the stomach, and in all cases 
of irritative dyspepsia with great 
vital exhaustion and depression. 

Baptisia. — When there is great 
dulness and heaviness approaching 
the typhoid type, tongue foul, no 
appetite, often vomiting and diar- 
rhoea. The head is heavy, and the 
face has a heavy expression. This 
medicine is very useful in indiges- 
tion after overloading the stomach, 
and in those acute attacks of in- 
digestion with fever which used to 
be called " gastric fever " or "gastric 
attacks." 

Bryonia. — Feeling as of a stone 



Materia Medica. 139 

at the pit of the stomach ; sharp pain 
going through from this region 
to the back ; pain between the 
shoulders or under one shoulder- 
blade ; pain across the forehead ; 
bilious vomiting ; white tongue ; 
constipation ; stools large and light- 
coloured in rheumatic patients. 

Bryonia is useful in many kinds 
of dyspepsia. An example has 
been given of its efficacy in the 
case of an arsenical dyspepsia. But 
its range is very wide, and any 
case presenting two or three of the 
above symptoms will be cured by 
the remedy. 

Calcarea carbonica 6. — Acid dys- 
pepsia ; everything turning to acid ; 
sour risings and eructations ; heart- 
burn ; waterbrash ; milk disagrees ; 



140 Materia Medica. 

offensive white stools ; useful in 
almost all cases where acidity is the 
leading feature. It is often of 
remarkable service in those cases 
where dyspepsia is premonitory of 
consumption of the lungs. 

Carbo veg. 6. — Flatulent dys- 
pepsia ; great belching of wind ; 
cutting pains in the chest ; acidity ; 
bowels regular or loose ; gouty dys- 
pepsia. 

Carbo veg. is perhaps the most 
useful of all medicines in flatulent 
dyspepsia. The flatulence is chiefly 
in the stomach and passing away 
upwards. It is contrasted with 
Lycopodium, which has abdominal 
flatulence with constipation. 

Carbolic acid. — Acute dyspepsia; 
great flatulence, passing upwards ; 



Materia Medica. 141 

pains in the chest and stomach after 
all food ; nausea ; vomiting ; depres- 
sion. There is usually a good deal 
of nervousness connected with the 
cases which call for Carbolic acid. 
It is good for nervous dyspepsia, 
i.e., dyspepsia where nervous symp- 
toms predominate. 

Chamomilla. — Fretfulness and 
irritability are the leading indica- 
tions for this remedy in whatever 
disease calls for it. It is especially 
called for in the dyspepsia of teeth- 
ing children. The special dyspeptic 
symptoms are: — Fulness of upper 
abdomen ; belching of wind ; press- 
ure at the stomach as from a stone ; 
burning at the stomach ; irritable 
gastralgia; windy colic; green, 
watery or mucous diarrhoea ; 



142 Materia Medica. 

biliousness. Bitter taste in the 
mouth in the morning. Desire for 
acids, and thirst. 

China. — Dyspepsia after ex- 
hausting diseases or vicious habits; 
dyspepsia of nervous debility ; loss 
of appetite ; loathing of food ; shud- 
dering and chilliness ; heartburn ; 
pressure at the stomach; nausea ; 
vomiting ; pain in the liver ; light 
stools. When given in the tincture 
it lessens the craving for alcohol. 

Hydrastis Canadensis, — " Gone- 
ness " or sinking sensation after 
meals ; yellow slimy tongue ; sour 
or putrid eructations ; alternate 
diarrhoea and constipation. 

Ignatia. — Indigestion with nerv- 
ous symptoms ; sinking at the pit of 
the stomach ; sensation of a lump 



Materia Medica. 143 

in the throat. When indigestion is 
brought on or aggravated by worry. 
Aggravation by tobacco smoke. 
Stomach symptoms generally re- 
lieved by eating. Hysterical symp- 
toms with indigestion. 

Iodine. — Dyspepsia with great 
wasting. The appetite may be 
ravenons or absent. In dyspepsia 
from nervous causes, where there 
is complete failure of appetite, if 
Iodine is given in 3 s strength for 
half to a quarter of an hour before 
meal-times, it will often enable the 
patient to eat. 

Ipecacuanha. — Sick dyspepsia ; 
constant nausea ; accumulation of 
saliva in the mouth ; loss of appe- 
tite ; sensation as if the stomach 
hung down relaxed. 



144 Materia Medica. 

Kali bichromicum. — Indigestion 
alternating with rheumatic symp- 
toms ; vomiting ; gastritis ; chronic 
catarrh of the stomach ; tongue 
coated yellow, red beneath ; weight 
rather than pain after food ; dys- 
pepsia of beer drinkers. 

Lycopodium 6. — Flatulent disten- 
sion of the bowels ; flatulence pass- 
ing downwards ; rumbling ; cannot 
bear the pressure of the clothes ; 
waterbrash ; tongue coated white ; 
constipation ; urine depositing a 
sediment ; sleepiness after dinner 
in gouty patients. 

Mercurius solubilis 6. — Pale 
flabby tongue ; depraved taste ; 
foul breath ; light stools ; depres- 
sion of spirits. 

Natrum muriaticum 6. — Bitter 



Materia Medica. 145 



taste in the month ; waterbrash ; 
heartburn ; chilliness ; palpitation 
after food ; anaemia ; constipation ; 
useful in anaemic girls ; also in 
youths who have indulged in evil 
habits. 

Nux vomica, — From indigesti- 
ble food ; from beer, wine, or spirits ; 
from tobacco ; from excesses of all 
kinds. Suited to spare, swarthy 
persons of irascible temperament ; 
tongue brown at the back ; cramp- 
ing or spasmodic pains ; flatulence ; 
vomiting ; constipation. 

Petroleum. — Constant sickness, 
and loathing of all food ; bilious 
vomiting ; breathlessness and 
bloodlessness ; " green sickness. " 

Plumbum 6.— Cramping contract- 
ing pains in body and limbs, with 
11 



146 Materia Medico, . 

indigestion. Obstinate constipa- 
tion with colic. Sensation of a 
ball rising up from the stomach 
into the throat. 

Pulsatilla. — From fat food ; 
mucous derangement ; thickly 
coated, moist, white tongue ; 
nausea with little vomiting ; heart- 
burn ; absence of much pain ; 
feeling of distension ; clothes have 
to be loosened ; bowels loose or 
regular ; suited to persons inclined 
to be stout, fair, and of a mild 
disposition. 

Sulphur.— -In chronic cases gen- 
erally, where dyspepsia has fol- 
lowed the disappearance of a skin 
eruption ; pressure and heaviness 
in the stomach after eating a little, 
and sour or empty eructations ; 



Materia Medica. 147 

"sinking" sensation about 11 A. 
M. ; bitter taste in the mouth ; 
tongue coated white ; griping about 
the navel ; constipation ; rheumatic 
and gouty dyspepsia. Sulphur is 
complementary to Nux vomica, 
they often do well in alternation. 



